Electrical stimulation of the neural cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway (CAP or NCAP) has been described in the literature, beginning with the seminal work of Kevin Tracey (see, e.g., Tracey, K J “Physiology and immunology of the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway.” The Journal of clinical investigation 2007:117 (2): 289-96), who first identified the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway and characterized the link between vagus nerve stimulation and inhibition of inflammation by suppressing cytokine production. Since then, research as continued to explore the relationship between stimulation of the CAP and modulation of inflammatory disorders. Typical stimulation parameters have include stimulation by a burst of pulses (e.g., between 10 Hz to 1 GHz for between 30 sec and 20 min), with a slight increase in effect seen at higher frequencies (see, e.g., U.S. Publication No. 2009/0143831 to Huston et al.).
Although this work has suggested that chronic inflammation may be successfully treated by an implantable stimulator, the design and implementation of such a chronically implantable and usable stimulator has proven elusive, in part because of the power demands that a device capable of truly long-term, chronic, usage would face.
Implantable electrical stimulation devices have been developed for therapeutic treatment of a wide variety of diseases and disorders. For example, implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) have been used in the treatment of various cardiac conditions. Spinal cord stimulators (SCS), or dorsal column stimulators (DCS), have been used in the treatment of chronic pain disorders including failed back syndrome, complex regional pain syndrome, and peripheral neuropathy. Peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS) systems have been used in the treatment of chronic pain syndromes and other diseases and disorders. Functional electrical stimulation (FES) systems have been used to restore some functionality to otherwise paralyzed extremities in spinal cord injury patients.
Recently, implantable vagus nerve stimulations have been developed, including vagus nerve stimulators to treat inflammation. Such implants typically require an electrode and a power source. The size and use-limiting parameters may typically be the power requirements, which either require a long-lasting (and therefore typically large) battery, or require the added complication of charging circuitry and charging devices.
For example, typical implantable electrical stimulation systems may include one or more programmable electrodes on a lead that are connected to an implantable pulse generator (IPG) that contains a power source and stimulation circuitry. Even relatively small implantable neural stimulator technology, i.e. microstimulators, having integral electrodes attached to the body of a stimulator may share some of these disadvantages, as the currently developed leadless devices tend to be larger and more massive than desirable, making it difficult to stably position such devices in the proper position with respect to the nerve.
We herein describe the surprising result that long-lasting, robust inhibition of inflammation may be achieved by on a single (or very few) supra-threshold electrical pulse applied to the vague nerve. This finding is particularly surprising given the extraordinarily robust effect despite the minimal power applied, particularly compared to published data showing effects at much higher applied energy. These findings support various extremely low-power devices, system and methods for treating chronic inflammation. In particular, devices and methods for the treatment of inflammatory disorders, including inflammatory disorders of the intestine (e.g., irritable bowel disorder or IBD) are described, including microstimulators and methods of using them based on the remarkably low power requirements identified.